Luxury operators 'as busy as ever' after sales surges

Speaking on a panel at the TTG Luxury Travel Summit at the Biltmore Mayfair on Monday (18 October), Carrier managing director Mark Duguid said his brand had reported four "seven-figure trading weeks" since the middle of September and was currently trading at levels “in excess of 2019” with a negligible number of refund requests.

Duguid said Carrier had enjoyed “an immediate boost” following the announcement by transport secretary Grant Shapps on 17 September to end the UK’s traffic light system and further ease testing for vaccinated travellers.

Elegant Resorts managing director Lisa Fitzell offered a similarly positive outlook, telling delegates how her company had achieved September revenues 70% higher than during the same period 2019, while founder of Red Savannah, George Morgan-Grenville, said his business had seen sales “10 times as high” as September 2020.

“We’re as busy as we’ve ever been,” said Morgan-Grenville.

However, he admitted not being able to recruit the right staff fast enough to service that demand was proving “an issue” with Red Savannah wanting to bring more experienced staff onboard.

Duguid agreed there were difficulties, explaining how he believed it typically took a member of Carrier’s sales team around two years to “get fully up to speed”.

The panel also addressed capacity challenges as, an until recently, limited choice of destinations coupled with clients opting to book late, was causing headaches for operators.

“There’s a real mismatch between supply and demand, and I really feel for suppliers having to juggle availability at the moment,” said Duguid. “It’s already a problem and could become a real challenge.”